


the things I haven't lived

by coupe_de_foudre



Category: The Pacific (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, First Kiss, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, M/M, Pre-Relationship, no beta we die like men, pls don't hate me, this is my contribution to the coronavirus fics
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-19
Updated: 2020-03-19
Packaged: 2021-03-01 04:48:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,259
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23219515
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/coupe_de_foudre/pseuds/coupe_de_foudre
Summary: Eugene has bad timing.The worst.He knew it was a stupid idea; coming to visit Snafu when everyone had warned him to stay inside.
Relationships: Merriell "Snafu" Shelton/Eugene Sledge
Comments: 4
Kudos: 31





	the things I haven't lived

**Author's Note:**

> I hold this [tumblr post](https://a-beautiful-struggle-of-life.tumblr.com/post/613019378107269120/gene-gets-sick-and-needs-to-self-isolate-and-sanf) completely responsible for the fic you're about to read and I am in no way apologetic bc I actually really enjoyed writing it.
> 
> And to anyone actually in quarantine I'm sorry, I hope this brings you something to pass the time. Stay safe <3

Eugene has bad timing.

The worst.

He knew it was a stupid idea; coming to visit Snafu when everyone had warned him to stay inside. He should have listened and just binge watched the Sex Education for the third time instead of travelling half-way across the damn city to check up on his friend. 

Who, by the way, was perfectly fine. In fact, he was hardly aware of the current fucked up situation of the world. 

Eugene had knocked on the door of his friend's apartment, thankful not for the first time over the broken intercom of the building; it meant that they decided to keep the front door permanently unlocked so he didn’t have to stand around in the late winter chill waiting for Snafu to answer.

“The fuck do you want?” is the lovely greeting he gets when Snafu finally opens the door, curls more unruly than usual and rubbing at his eyes. He's not dressed, save for some rather tight black boxers that leave little to Eugene's imagination, but Eugene doesn’t give himself the chance to ponder on this realisation.

Forcing himself to look at Snafu's face rather than his tanned and toned chest, he scoffs. “Some welcome. I just dragged my ass out here to make sure you’re alright.” he holds up the bag, which he'll admit is getting quite heavy, “I even brought you some fucking groceries.”

“Didn't ask you to,” Snafu grumbles, stepping to the side and allowing Eugene to squeeze beside him into the apartment nonetheless.

“What're friends for if not to stop each other starving to death in a pandemic?”

“Huh?”

Eugene rolls his eyes, dumping the bag of supplies on Snafu's kitchen countertop – after clearing a space among crumbs and used mugs. “Do you _ever_ watch the news?”

“The fuck would I watch that shit for?” Snafu laughs, pulling out a bag of chips from the bag.

With a shake of his head, Eugene begins clearing up the cramped kitchen. “It can be important.”

“Yeah, well, so can sleep.” Snafu points out, voice muffled under the sound of rustling whilst he inspects what Eugene has bought for him. “Which, by the way, you interrupted.”

Eugene quirks an eyebrow at Snafu's current attire, matching the Cajun's smirk. “You don't say.”

“Fuck off. Just be grateful I don’t sleep in the nude like Bill.” That causes Eugene to shiver, remembering all too well the fateful mistake of barging in on a sleeping Bill. 

“Yeah, alright.” turning his back on Snafu, Eugene begins to wash the few dirty mugs and plates scattered around. “Still no way to treat a guest.”

“An uninvited guest.”

“Shut up.”

Snafu, to his credit, does actually shut up. Eugene smiles to himself. He can hear the other man opening and closing cupboards behind him, presumably putting the groceries away, and Eugene is glad that he’s accepting them. Many a time, Eugene has brought things round to help Snafu out and has had it all shoved back in his face and sent away with his tail between his legs.

It didn’t take long into their friendship for Eugene to learn that Snafu is the walking definition of unpredictability.

“So, what’re you here for then?” Snafu speaks up, startling Eugene from his thoughts. 

Eugene shrugs, eyeing Snafu from the corner of his vision. “Got bored. Figured I’d come see how you were. Hang out for a bit?”

The small smile that Snafu tries hard to fight back warms something deep in Eugene’s chest and he forces himself to look away. There’s a moment of silence, Snafu grabbing a towel and joining him to dry the items.

“Good thing you brought plenty of food then.” Snafu says, and Eugene takes that as his way of saying that Eugene is welcome to stay as long as he likes. It shouldn’t make him feel as excited as it does.

In the few hours that follow, Eugene quickly forgets all about the world outside. Distracted with old re-runs of Friends and laughing at Snafu's snarky comments about the show and everything wrong with it, passing a bottle of Jack Daniels between them despite the early hour of the day, Eugene is more than just surprised by the sudden ringing of his phone.

Snafu mutes the TV, watching from his place on the floor as Eugene makes a grab for his phone and frowns at the caller ID. Surely his mother doesn’t need to call him right now?

“Hello?” he says once he’s swiped to answer. 

His mom hardly leaves him chance to wonder what could possibly be wrong, panicked voice coming through loud enough to cause Eugene to wince and hold the phone away for a second. _“Gene? Baby, are you okay? Where are you? The city's been put on lockdown, nobody is allowed to leave unless strictly necessary!”_

Eugene frowns, pinching the bridge of his nose as he tries to make sense of his mother's rambling. “What?”

_“Check the news! We've all been quarantined!”_ Eugene does just that, gesturing for the remote from Snafu and switching the channel. He and Snafu stare in shock as they read the ‘breaking news' scrolling along the bottom. The whole city has been put into emergency quarantine. _“Eugene, please tell me you’re safe.”_

Eugene nods, before realising his mom can’t see him. “I’m fine. I'm at Snafu's.”

_“Your friend from college? Why are you there?”_ she asks, but obviously doesn’t care for his actual reasoning since she carries on talking. _“Right, well, don’t leave. I don’t want you getting into any trouble. Stay put until we hear more, okay?”_

Snafu is watching with an amused look in his eye, clearly able to hear everything that his mother is saying. Eugene blushes. When would his mom finally understand that he’s an adult and can take perfectly good care of himself?

“Yes, mom. Okay. I’ll be fine.” he sighs, “I’ll ring you later, alright? Yeah. Yes. Alright. Bye, I love you, yeah, bye.” 

Finally hanging up, Eugene drops his phone to the floor and groans. He can hear Snafu cracking up, shuffling to sit himself up.

“Least she cares?” he offers, but the smirk is evident in his tone and Eugene chucks a cushion his way. Snafu dodges it easily.

“Cares too much sometimes.”

Snafu shrugs, switching the TV off and standing up. He stretches, luckily now wearing loose fitting joggers and a black tee, before heading in the direction of his bedroom.

Eugene arches his back, tilting his head along the curve of the couch’s armrest to track Snafu's movement. He watches, view upside-down, as he disappears into the other room. “What are you doing?”

“Well-” Snafu starts, and then there’s the sound of something dropping, “Fuck!”

Eugene chuckles, ignoring the rush of blood to his head from his current position. Snafu comes back into his view again, lazy smirk etched onto his face and now holding something in his hand.

“Since it looks like we're gonna be here a while,” he holds the item up and Eugene bursts into laughter.

“No fucking way!” he snorts, rising to sit in a cross-legged position. “I didn’t know you still had that!”

Snafu makes an offended noise, dropping the battered and used pack of UNO cards onto the couch beside Eugene. “Course I do. Paid good money for it.”

Eugene smiles, running a finger over the familiar red packet. Memories of a tiny room, the smell of stale smoke and an empty bottle of Vodka flood his vision. Countless nights they'd spent playing this game, betting stupid things or turning it into a new version of strip poker. 

“Budge up,” Snafu says, kicking his foot. Eugene does, shifting along to the far edge of the couch to leave enough room between them both so that they can play comfortably.

  
“I haven’t got any money on me.” 

“Can just take shots if we lose?” Snafu suggests, holding out the bottle of whiskey.

Eugene frowns, “You know I can’t hold that shit.”

“Mhmm,” Snafu smirks, “Guess ya best not lose then.”

“You cheeky fucker.”

Snafu holds a finger up to his face, “Ah, ah, who’s the unwelcomed guest here?”

“Piss off.” he bites out and Snafu throws his head back with a laugh. Eugene tries not to stare at the exposed skin of his throat, the sharp cut of his jaw, the crinkle of his eyes...he tries really hard.

It takes two days for them to crack. Two whole days of being holed up inside Snafu's miniscule apartment on the side of the city that’s usually heaving with noise pollution and drunks and is instead eerily quiet. 

They’ve exhausted every means of entertainment; watch TV until their minds felt numb, played UNO, argued over UNO and put the pack of UNO cards in the fridge so that it can no longer cause harm. 

Now, they sit in silence.

Snafu is in his usual spot, spread eagle on the carpet beside the couch, hands under his head, eyes closed. He looks peaceful, with the setting sun shining through the window above and casting an almost angelic glow over his sharp features. Eugene has claimed the couch, long legs hanging over the furthest edge and feet swinging. He found a stress ball in one of Snafu's draws and is mindlessly throwing it up above his face. The soft sound of the ball landing back in his hands is all the noise that fills the apartment, beside the constant hum of the heating.

They’re bored.

There’s nothing to do and they could be stuck here for days, weeks, months and-

A loud cough breaks Eugene's trail of consciousness and he turns to look down at Snafu. The speed in which Snafu bolts to sit upright is frightening, more so than the way his usually wide eyes are now impossibly wider.

“Shit...” Snafu looks up at Eugene, and Eugene begins to shake his head in protest before the next words even leave his friend's mouth. “It's over. I’ve got it!”

“You haven’t got it, Snaf, give it a rest.”

Snafu moves onto his knees, gaining some height on Eugene. “I’m telling ya, I’ve got it! That disco fever shit.”

Eugene almost laughs, but Snafu’s still staring straight at him and it’s making his skin itch. With a sigh, he props himself up onto his elbows and fixes Snafu with an equally intense glare. “It's coronavirus and you don't have it.”

Snafu doesn’t look so convinced.

“Feel my forehead, go on.” he comes closer, “I’m dyin’, Sledge.”

Eugene rolls his eyes, but doesn’t stop Snafu from taking his hand and placing it over his forehead. He ignores the flutter of his heart.

Snafu is fine. If anything, he’s cold, certainly not feverish. Eugene definitely doesn’t feel any sort of relief at the confirmation.

Pulling his hand back, he huffs. “Good, die quietly.”

A smirk grows on Snafu's face and he leans against the side of the couch. He’s just getting comfortable. It doesn’t mean anything. “Fuck you, Eugene.”

“Yeah, fuck you too, Shelton.”

There’s a hand on Eugene’s knee now as Snafu bends forward, bringing their faces closer together. His breath is ghosting over Eugene's face, and Eugene has to fight back a shiver at the feeling. They’re close, practically got up in each other's space constantly since meeting, but sometimes they share oddly intimate moments like these and Eugene is always left unsure about so many things.

Subconsciously, Eugene licks his bottom lip and Snafu tracks the fast movement with hungry eyes.

And then the eyes are back on Eugene's, something different glazing over them now. Eugene can feel his face heating up, a fire burning underneath his skin and he’s almost certain that he's redder than a tomato. If he is, though, Snafu doesn’t say anything about it.

In the blink of an eye, Snafu's lips are by Eugene’s ear, hot air travelling down his neck and this time he can’t stop the shiver. Fingertips tease up the inner seam of his jeans, but stopping before they reach too far.

“It'd certainly be one way to ease the boredom.”

Eugene tilts his head, blinking multiple times as though that would clear his head of his muddled thoughts. “What?”

Snafu doesn’t answer.

Instead, he puts his palms to Eugene’s chest and pushes him back into the couch cushions. Chapped lips are on his in a split second, swallowing the surprised moan that escapes his throat. A leg swings over his hips and Snafu is suddenly straddling him, hands sliding up to cup his face as the kiss deepens. A hot tongue swipes along his lower lip, following the path of his own earlier, and Eugene doesn’t think twice before allowing Snafu to explore further. 

His own hands grip at Snafu's hips, pulling him closer. Another moan slips his mouth when fingers move up into his hair, pulling harshly, and he responds to the action with a violent nip to Snafu's lip. This seems to have been the right thing to do since a low groan vibrates above him, the sound going straight through Eugene. 

They’re going to have to talk about this. There’s going to be some awkward conversation where they discuss their feelings and emotions and plans for the future and what any of this even means, but right now Eugene is more focused on the feeling of lips trailing from his mouth to his jaw and down his throat. Right now, Eugene has better things on his mind.

He understands what Snafu meant now; _this_ is certainly a way to ease the boredom.

**Author's Note:**

> Don't ask how it went from a drabble length plot to over 2K words bc I honestly don't know. I got lost and it is a mess but I don't even care.
> 
> Thank you so much for reading! Pls drop a comment if you have the time, I love reading them <3


End file.
